By Jeff Goins, Editor
Jon Foreman sings for Switchfoot. Personally, I find his music honest and inspiring. I attended a Switchfoot concert awhile ago, and it was one of the most moving worship experiences that I’ve had in awhile.
The words to “The Shadow Proves the Sunshine” became my anthem of depravity, my song of praise to a God of hope: “Two scared little runaways hold fast ’til the break of daylight, well, the shadow proves the sunshine. The shadow proves the sunshine.”
When I heard Jon sing those words at the Switchfoot show in Nashville during their Oh Gravity Tour, I wept — in worship, adoration and awe of a gracious God.
At a time when we can read the right Christian books, sing the right Christian songs, and say the right Christian cliches, it’s difficult to be broken in a subculture that many times appears to “have it all together.”
That’s why I like Switchfoot’s music.
On all worldly accounts, they’ve made it; they’ve hit it big in the Christian and mainstream markets. They’ve produced multi-gold records and toured with some of the best. Yet, they know that this isn’t “it.”
If their music is any thermometer for where they’re at spiritually, they’re hungrier than ever for truth. They’re more dissatisfied and restless than they’ve ever been. And so am I.
Maybe God is getting ready to do something really big in the hearts of those who are brave enough to dream.
To dare to imagine another culture. Foreman says the following about where he’s at spiritually in all of this:
“So in the half-light glow of radio shows, music videos, and greedy billboard charts I am aware of a darkness that is beyond me, I am coming to terms with my unbelief. No, I don’t believe in rock and roll. No, I don’t believe in the success that we’ve achieved. And no, I don’t believe in me.
In a free market world of the bought and sold I feel caught in between. Maybe Dylan was right when he said Rock and Roll isn’t Rock and Roll anymore. I’ve met so many lonely, desperate, beautiful people over the past few years. Yeah, I’ve got a bitter pill to swallow, but it just might be true.
Maybe our lives drift quietly by and we can’t stop the current. Maybe this modern river leads to the sea of death, where no medicine can cure these ills. Perhaps our restless wanting is satisfied only outside of ourselves.“
On the album Oh Gravity, Switchfoot sings of another kingdom in which the least become the greatest, where strength is perfected in weakness, and where everyone is called to carry a cross: “This ain’t my American Dream. I want to live and die for bigger things. I’m tired of fighting for just me. This ain’t my American Dream…”
What dream are you living for?
Jeff graduated from Illinois College, a small liberal arts school, with a degree in Spanish and Religion. He lives in Nashville, TN. He works for Adventures In Missions, edits this silly little magazine, and loves to do new things. He just got married last January. Check out his blog: Pilgrimage of the Heart.
Photo by Joe Gomez.